A Shadow in the Light
by QueenofQuill
Summary: When the argonaughts went on their quest the myth forgot to metion Vida. The seer that would both help their quest and disrupt it.


**A Shadow in the Light**

_This story came from one I wrote ages ago but as soon as I read my favourite fanfiction author Rudy's Diomedes stories I decided I had to expand it, these characters are like male, female versions of eachother which is why I thought they would make an interesting pair. Before you read part two I would advise you to have a look at one of Rudy's Diomedes stories or the one I wrote about the character (taken from his plot) Reborn so you know who Diomedes is. But first of all here is Vida, she is my embodiment of what I think a seer should be and I hope you enjoy her story. If you do tell me if you want to hear the story of her and Diomedes which takes place some two years or so after Reborn._

She was like nothing like any of the cadets had ever seen before; she had an almost unearthly beauty about her. She wondered unconcerned into the academy and looked around, she didn't seem confused but she seemed unsure about whether or not she was meant to be there. Jason, always one for the pleasantries not to mention the ladies, ambled over to her without a care in the world and introduced himself. She shook his hand without looking at him she continued to take in the room. Cheiron came in and with a kind smile which wasn't habitual to him he took her by the shoulder and steered her into his office. The cadets had barley noticed the ghostly pale figure so they didn't decide to investigate.

Later Cheiron talked to the cadets about the girl, she was a slave who had been freed on the terms of violation of the buyers' contract but she still assaulted her master, however since it was in self defense the kind judge took pity on the all too clearly unhappy girl and decided to release her to Cheiron on terms of parole. She had been a slave to three different masters but no-one knows where she came from before hand no one had a clue who this beautiful stranger was.

She walked into the mess hall at dinner time and took some food, a very small amount, hardly enough to feed a sparrow and she sat next to Hercules, Iolaus and Jason and began to eat as if she didn't care if she starved. Hercules felt himself feel sympathy he had never felt before, this rather pitiful figure was the match of a goddess in beauty and she had, had such a miserable life, the lives of the beautiful were usually easy. However pitiful she was she radiated such power, such influence and such wisdom.

"Hi there," said Hercules gently.

"Hi," she mumbled from behind her long brown hair almost inaudibly.

"What's your name?"

"Vida."

"Vida, that's an unusual name, what does it mean?"

"The world."

"Where do you come from?" Jason asked as if he was taking to a lost child.

"Lots of different places."

"Where originally?"

"Aros."

"I've heard of that place, that is the island off the north coast of Greece that doesn't worship any Gods."

"They're still waiting for one worth their worship, answer me this what good thing have the Gods ever done for mankind."

The cadets couldn't think of anything.

"Why did you have to leave your home?"

Vida pushed her plate away and openly wept into her arms. Jason felt awful.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…."

"My mother died and my father went crazy, he though it was my fault she died so he tried to kill me he was powerful so no-one could stop him so my brother sent me away, I was captured and enslaved and I never saw my home again."

Vida lifted her beautiful pale face and walked away still weeping. The story had been told with such ease it sounded almost as if she had made peace with it, then why was she so inconsolable.

Cheiron felt concern for this child she seemed to be barley holding herself together, she even seemed confused about where she was so he went to visit the judge who had entrusted her with him because if he was going to follow orders he must know what they are first.

**************************

"Cheiron what brings you to my court on this fine day," polietly smiled a judge as the centuar walked into his court room.

"I'm here on important matter your honour."

"Why what's wrong"

"I need to ask you what I should do with this child Vida."

"Very much the same as you did Iolaus"

"She is not Iolaus, she is a girl who is breaking down from a terrible past and I wish to help her all I can but I can't help her if I don't know what her trouble is," the judge sighed, he was beaten, he should have known that he couldn't give this girl to Cheiron's care without him wanting to know everything, "tell me everything you know about this girl."

"Very well but not here, come to my house for dinner tonight my wife is the one who conveyed the reports of her to me, we will tell you all we know."

That night Cheiron entered the magistrate's house and sat down to dinner with the magistrate and his wife, the arrangment was aquward but at this point it was the last thing on anyone's mind. The wise and fair judge unlike many men was only to glad to include his wife in his work and ask for her help esspecially when it came to delicate matters like this.

They decided to skip pleasantries and move right onto the subject at hand.

Diana the Judge's wife spoke first, "She was the Princess of Aros, she had a mother, a father and a brother but when she was nine years old her mother died and her father the king went insane and blamed her for the death of his queen, it started of with beatings but then it escalated and by the time she was ten he began trying to kill her. Her brother Prince, now King Oleo and many people who loved the sweet princess decided to send her away to be safe, but she wasn't safe, when she was twelve she was captured by a slave market and sold to the highest bidder and as soon as they found out she was a princess the bidding encreased to 200,000 dinars but it came with a contract that sexual pleasure with her was forbiden on penalty of forfiture of her and all other posessions."

"How did that occure?"

"The contract?"

"Yes."

"Well Aros is an extremly powerful country and King Rubio of Castus which is where she was found lived in great fear of an envasion, however the owner of the slave market was a powerful man throughout all of Greece he controled at least 9% of Greece's economy and King's make a good point of staying on his good side and if Rubio robbed him of 200,000 dinars then that would earn his wrath so the best he could do was make a contract that could protect her from the worst and give her a good chance to escape on a technicality but it didn't, she spent two years being abused by him and not being able to have sex with her he grew tired of her and sold her for half the price to a man who owned hundreds of farms all over Greece and only managed that because the man was drunk. The farm owner put her on a little farm in the woods a couple of miles away from the village of Burn and she ran the farm for two years before he found a buyer how was willing to pay more for her and she spent a further two years with this master in Corinth before he violated the contract and tryed to rape her. Not losing the skill she was taught and the skills she learned she fought him off and ran to a guard patrolling the streets and hysterically told him what happened and showed him her copy of the contract which she always kept close. My husband gave me her story to look over while he contacted King Rubio and he jumped at the chance to get her out of the contract but we couldn't ignore the law she assulted him and if he was going to loose his land and posessions he wasn't going to suffer alone so we decided to give her to your care. We truely believe you can help her Cheiron."

Cheiron listened in silence stunned to his very core by this tale, no wonder this child was so...so...there wasn't a word for what she was. First thing when he got back he would talk to her and no matter how long it took he would sit there until she talked back then he would contact King Rubio and King Oleo her brother.

************************

"Vida...Vida...VIDA."

Vida was daydreaming agian and Feducious had, had just about enough, she was worse than Iolaus.

Without averting her gaze from nothingness she answered, "Caledonia."

"I beg you pardon."

"The answer to your question sir, the romans call northern Britannia Caledoina and they prefer not to invade there as the populus is too uncivilized and the so called rules of war mean nothing to them."

"I beg your pardon."

"I am listening to you sir but forgive me if I seem else where. I actually admire the Caledonians."

"Why?" asked Jason, "they are a barbaric society and honour of war is meaningless to them."

"Why should invading a country be so meaningful and honourable and have they any reason to adapt to your 'civilized' ways of war, shouldn't people resort to any means nessicary to protect their home and their children. What's so great about rules anyway rules restrict the poor and are bent by the rich they can work their way around them," Vida was breaking up now angry tears were welling up in her wise, young eyes, "they can twist and turn them to suit themselves they can even get round the law to murder and your Gods they're the worst, they are immune to the law they can do what they want when they want so what's the use for for it, Kings are no better, they are just given one whole country and they can do what they want to it they can kill who they like in it even their own children and I'm sick of living in a lawful society where the rules are far more barbaric than anything you will get in Caledoina," her voice rose practically an octave and she was crying now and talking hysterically Feducious came and tryed to get her to calm down, "Don't," she said then she lowered her voice, "it's just," she paused, "It was a better life helping people, saving them and doing it without worrying about the stupid rules it's was a better way of living your life and there are people out there suffering and you refuse to do anything because your worried about your rules I just I..." and with that she viciously pushed away the table she was sitting at and left the room. She was a lot stronger than anyone expected her to be.

Feducious reported this outburst to Cheiron when he returned, Cheiron didn't seem all that surprised, he called her into his office.

Vida sat down and said miserably, "If this is about today in class I've apologised to Feducious and I'll do it agian but I can't promise you it wont happen agian."

"Why is that?" Cheiron asked more out of curiousity than anything else.

"I can't keep my emotions in sir I can't otherwise I will break down."

"It looks like that is already happening."

Vida laughed...or cryed it was hard to tell but it was a miserable sound, "No I'm just telling you what I see."

"What you see?"

"I'm a seer and I can start talking and acting without my telling my body to do it, I can wake up in the middle of the night bathed in sweat and tears, I can even wake up in a differnet place than where I fell asleep," she paused, "I have so much in my head," she reached across Cheiron's desk and took his hands in hers, "I can see your past and I would bet my life on that fact that I will be dreaming about your future tonight. I see such a sad little boy, so lonley so differnet, so much responsibility on his shoulders. I know you Cheiron I can see you, you love people, you love your cadets but you are afraid to show it in worry that it will weaken you. You take on so much responsibility because you feel you need to, you don't, you just want to...let it go Cheiron...let it go."

Cherion who feared nothing was getting so uneasy, this child through looking at him and taking his hand, had seen into his very soul and she was saddened by it, his childhood hadn't exactly been ideal for one thing he was forced to grow up too fast but it was nowhere near as bad as this girl, he was surrounded by love, she had been touched by love since her brother had sent her away for her own safety. He needed to contact her brother, he had to get her home.

"No, no ,no, no, no, please no."

"What."

"Don't tell my brother please, please, for the life of me don't tell my brother."

Dear Gods she was becoming hysterical agian. One minuet she is so calm and collected and the next everything threatens to boil over the surface. He contemplated the seer whose eyes begged his hypnotically not to tell her brother where she was, he couldn't say no.

"Thank-you," she said reading him agian, he didn't even need to speak, she knew him.

He took away his hands and she knew she had to let him ask outloud, "Why don't you want to see your brother."

"Oh I do, I do more than anything in this world I want to see the great man he has become and I don't need to be a seer to know that."

"Then why..."

"Because I can see it. If I go home something bad will happen and not just bad, catastrophic, horrifying."

"Why would you think that."

She threw her arms up in the air in frustration, "I Don't Know, I just FEEL it. All I know is I can do anything, I can go anywhere, hell I could lie down and die for all the grief it would relieve me of but all I know is I can never go home, my brother can never find me or even look for me. I see him looking for me and I see it being the death of him. Please, please let him move on with his life, let him be the great King he is meant to be because, my feelings are confusing but all I know is I am his death."

"You feel like you need to stay away to protect your brother," he said matter of factly regaining his cool demeaner.

"No, even if by some way he were to die tomorrow I can still never go home. I told you I go home and something bad will happen."

"What?"

"I don't know I can't controle my feelings or my dreams, I don't choose them, they choose me."

Before he got her worked up agian he decided to send her to the barracks to get some sleep, the cadets would be joining her an hour later anyway. Without grumbling about early bed hours which is what he would have heard from any other cadet she nodded and obidiently went to bed. Ten minuets later he went to barracks to check on her and she was fast asleep, perhaps because she was use to being ordered to bed, even though she didn't care much for rules she knew when to obey.

*************************

The next morning Cheiron was at a loss, he knew King Oleo deserved to know where his sister was and that she was safe because he must have been worrying about her for all these years and wondering is she was even alive but there could very well be something in what Vida said. She knew so much about Cheiron by just concentrating herself on him, was it worth the risk that she might be right? She was obviously a gifted seer but she had little controle over her powers, ofcourse she didn't there was no-one in her life to teach her. The horror she must have gone through not being able to controle such a powerful gift, the headaces, the nightmares and her terrible life must have made it worse two fold. To go through that and still be so decent was a miricle. She obviously had more strength than was first shown by her lack of emoitonal controle.

Vida had, had a reasonably good day, she had demonstrated such supirior fighting skills no-one would have suspected such a gental girl of having but she had just shown people that despite the emotion she carried it was a strength not a weakness as her pain and her passion banded togther to create a deadly weapon and combined with her unusual Arosian skill and skills she will have learnt from living in Greece no cadet could beat her. She also showed to Cheiron that she was a completely normal Woman Warrior (and also a normal chatty, friendly, sociable girl when she wasn't being plaged by visions) except she wasn't like the Amazons he had fought she had so much more feeling and a different kind of passion and she seemed much more sophisticated in her unusual warrior style, a style that not even Cheiron had seen and she was also managed to be; innocent and deadly, wise and ridiculous, rational and irrational, hot and cold all in one. 'Such strength in one so young and beaten down,' he thought.

Hercules and Iolaus who had just come to the academy had met Jason Crowned prince of Corinth who had just gotten word that his father was ill and he needed to go home, "It's my duty," he said.

Iolaus convinced Jason to let him and Hercules go with him. When Vida heard what was happening she seemed startled, she grabbed Jason by the arms and looked at him closely then she let him go and tryed to walk away but he caught her, "Wait," he said sofly, "is something wrong?"

"Everything's wrong."

"What?" she didn't answer, "tell me," he demanded.

"I don't know why I must be the one to tell," she said emotionally but having had to do this before she took controle and spoke, "your father is going to die and Jason this burns in my throat...murder. Your father is going to be murdered."

Jason was never normally violent but he go so angry at this moment, how could she say something like that to him? Was this some kind of cruel joke? because there was no possible way she could know that. He back-handed her across the face.

The reaction he got burned into his very skull, the girl started screaming, absolutly terrified, "Please, please Gods not agian," Jason tryed to reach for her, to help her up but she scrambled away from him shrieking in the highest pitch Jason had ever heard, "NO, NO, NONO, PLEASE, PLEASE, STOP, STOP," Jason made one more atempt to reach for her and help her, to apologise but it soon became clear that it wasn't him she was talking to, the second she saw Jason's hand agian windows nearly broke and she Shrieked even higher, "STOOOOOOOOOP," Jason backed away both confused and guilty when she could no longer feel him close she went from curled in a sitting position to lying in a ball on the floor crying her eyes dry and whispering things like 'It wasn't me' and 'I'm sorry I'll be better' and 'Please father stop I miss mum as much as you do' at which point she'd reil back as if she had been hit and would continue crying and mumbling.

The minuet Vida lay on the ground Iolaus rushed for Cheiron. Cheiron was furious as he came into the barracks he glared at Jason then tryed to go towards Vida. She gave another shriek and he backed away knowing her seer visions were making her mistake him for her father, obviously Jason's hit had triggered some bad memories and her seer mind had made her think she was back in her childhood and that any people advancing on her was her father trying to hurt and punish her, "Oleo help me," she appealed to her (at this point) invisible brother, but there was obiously nothing he could do as she continued to cry and plead and throw herself against the wall every now and agian as if she was being kicked into it. The only thing he could do was wait until the vision passed and until then the best thing was to make her feel as unthreatened as possible but he didn't want to leave her alone so he ordered a cadet to stay there with her and told everyone else to leave the barracks.

***************************

Not long later the cadet who had been entrusted to watch Vida said her visions had stopped and she was fine.

"Where is she now?" Cheiron asked.

"She just seemed to wake up and realise where she was then she got up and walked into the dinning hall, it's so strange, to look at her you wouldn't guess she had just had frightening visions."

"Did you manage to disifer the visions from what she was saying."

"Yes, and from what she was doing, she seemed to be protecting herself from horrible blows, most possibly punching and kicking and from what she was saying it was most likely her own father who was administering these blows. She continuously threw herself agianst the wall it almost looked like she was being kicked by an invisible force, at one point I couldn't bear it anymore and I tryed to go nearer but she started shrieking as if she thought I was her father so I moved as far away as possible and Gods forgive me all I could do was watch lest I make it worse. Cheiron what is happening to this girl, I was fighting with her and talking to her and she seemed like a perfectly normal girl...for someone with skill like that."

"You truely care for her?"

"Everyone in the academy took a shine to her, she was so friendly and even offered to show us some of her moves but when something caught her eye she seemed to go into a trance for a moment and then come out of it. I never took any notice at first but now it seems to be threatening her please tell me what is happening let me help."

"It's not my business to tell you about this girl Altoni you'll have to ask her yourself."

So Altoni being one of the more sensitive cadets decided he had to help, he found Vida sitting down across from Jason, he couldn't even look at her.

"I am so sor..." he said but not finishing as she interupted.

"Sorry for what?"

"What do you mean what?"

"Your father's a good man right?"

"Yeh," he said, rather confused.

"And you love him?"

"Ofcourse."

"Then you are allowed to be angry with whoever you want."

"That's another thing. Why would you say something like that?"

"Because I always speak the truth."

"How could you possibly know..."

"I'm a seer Jason and I know what's coming and I know what you're going to do and I know the outcome. And before you decide anything you need to know that no matter what decision you make from here it will all lead to the same outcome."

"What?"

"I'll not tell you anymore, you deserve to be left with hope."

"You mean I can't change what you saw when you looked at me."

"I say no more on this topic Jason, I saw death, the deaths of many, the suffering of many all for a quest that will be both in vain and bring great reward, although it might not be the reward you began the quest for."

Jason looked back at his friends for enlightment and when they were more confused than he was he turned back in time just to see her disappear out the door and into the sunlight.

"Seers," huffed Iolaus, "will I ever understand them."

"How did she vanish like that," asked Hercules, "trick of the light."

"Probebly," said Iolaus, "but whatever it is she'll have to teach me it."

***************************

While Jason and the others traveled back the Corinth to investigate the strange happenings of the country and Jason's father's mysterious illness Vida stayed behind and posed her classmates with enigmas throughout the duration of her stay. When somebody lost something no matter what she imediately knew where it was she warned everyone a test on astronomy was coming when there was no way she could have known as Feducious had planned it as a spur of the momment thing. Pretty soon everyone either knew or suspected her to be a seer.

Cheiron decided that if her nightmares and visions were to be conquered then he would have to find a seer to help her. However everywhere he went he was told that the visions of a seer couldn't be conquered, 'they chose you, you don't choose them'.

Seers were rare creatures, since they didn't chose what came to them they believed a force that controled the universe, far beyond Zeus gave them these visions. Seers were believed to be agents of the universe that is why their instincts wouldn't allow them to give any information that wasn't ment to be given.

Disheartened Cheiron decided that he would have to take their word for it as Vida told him the same thing. For the first time in a long while he just didn't know what to do with the person in his charge.

When Jason, Iolaus and Hercules returned from Corinth she told them to listen to the new girl cadet Yvenna and she was the one that provided transportation on the quest Vida had predicted.

"So you're planning a quest," she said.

Jason remembered her pedication the he heard Hercules say that the Golden fleece was sacrificed to his father, "Are you saying your father is Zeus, you are crazy."

"He's telling the truth Jason."

"If you knew," asked Hercules, " then why didn't you say anything before?"

"Is it really any of my business who your father is. Also where I come from I'm sure you've heard, the Gods are made a huge fuss of. But that does mean I can't feel their presence. Infact among humans their presence to me is like shouting aloud, 'I'm a God look at me', which is what I've seen a lot of those sons of bitches do. The worst thing is loads of mortals over here buy into it."

Jason continued to say the quest was a crazy idea.

Vida laughed, "It may be but my ancestors have tryed things a lot crazier than this and succeded."

"Your ancestors?"

"Yes, my father, King Leodes, when he was sixteen years old lead an army against the stuck up God Ares and pushed him out of Aros."

"Wait a minuet, you're telling me, your father is King Leodes."

"Yes," she seemed to reluctantly admit.

"You are the missing Arosian princess."

"Yes," agian she reluctantly admitted, "and before you ask like I've told many before you, my feelings may be confusing but they are never wrong so I know that no matter what happens I can never go home. Nor can I ever see my brother agian. Either takes place and disaster strikes so I hear one word whispered to my brother about me I will personally destroy the person responsible."

"Come with us," said Jason, "we could use someone who knows what's going to happen."

Vida smiled at this naive young prince, "If you know what's going to happen what's the point of going on the quest?"

Jason tried in desperate vain to persaude her but to know avial but when Iolaus asked her she stared at him for a long time and then said, "Yes."

***************************

On the boat Yvenna felt out of place among all the boys of the crew so she decided to go and talk to Vida. Vida as usual was daydreaming. She was standing on the edge of the boat with her eyes closed breathing in the beautiful night air. Yvenna was quite hesitant to startle her as she was teetering close to the edge so she decided to leave her alone.

At one dinner time on the boat the crew were talking about familes and fathers and when it got to Vida everthing went silent.

"We can talk about dead fathers can't we."

"Ofcourse."

"Well I wasn't around when he died but I'm guessing he hasn't been so drained of bodily fluids since I was concieved."

The room was quite shocked and the tension grew.

"What," sighed Vida, "I thought I'd open with a joke. Ok what have you lot heard about my father and I'll tell you if it's true or not."

"King Leodes?"

"Yes."

One cadets said, "Well I heard he was a great family man, a loving husband and devoted father."

"That's good, at least _he_ got to open with a joke," said Vida sarcastically.

The cadets decided to finish the conversation partly because they were uncomfortable and partly because they started to fear that this discusion would envoke another vision in the seers indecisive mind.

Iolaus tried to lighten the mood by changing the subject, "So...Leodes, Oleo. Are all the names like that?"

Vida smiled at the question and looked into Iolaus' almost impossibly blue eyes with her gleaming silver-green ones, "The animal that most of Arosian society is based around is The Lion or The lioness so all Kings must have Lion in their first name and Leo is a Latin name for the Greek word Leon."

"What is latin?"

"A modern new age lanuage, the hebrews are starting to evolve with it and some Romans find the lanuage attractive but elsewhere it is not well known and my Great, great, uncle King Leonardo wanted a lanuage that couldn't be followed by a lot of people since despite people being eager to please Aros because of it's power our views don't make us the most popular people in Greece."

"Are women named after Lions too?"

"No, Females who assend the throne are given names that mean 'The World'. My great aunt was called Aparaa and her younger sister my grandmother was called Mahi as she was named after they realised Aparaa was baron. My family have ruled the Kingdom for 500 years ever since the first Lion, King Leo and his Queen Vedajanani 'Source of the world' Won it from the Gods and since then there has been very few Females accending the throne. Plenty of royal girls have been born but the boys always seem to be born first."

Iolaus was getting more curious about what she was getting at, "So, you think there's a reason for that?"

"Yes, the ultimate ruler will be a woman. When Aros finds a God it will be female."

"Most of the Army regements are said to be run by women," said a cadet.

"Really?" said Jason disbelievingly.

"Sure, why do you think we have a better army."

*****************************

Hercules was having severe issues with his father, or lack of father agian and Vida watched him talking to the sky asking for a sign that Zeus a least knew he was alive and she thought, 'he doesn't know how good he's got it, his father could have a good reason for staying out of his life' not that she had any sort of prejuduce agianst fathers nor did she have any desire to defend the Gods but she knew that everything came in it's own good time and as someone who often knew when that time was she never tried to aviod it or question it and she definately didn't try to hurry it.

"You know Hercules you have a mother...a home...and a life. You have no idea just how lucky you are, if Zeus has a bad reason for staying away from you then you are better of without him and if he has a good reason then you are even luckier than I took you for, he gives up his own son so he can have a normal life or he gives up his own son to aviod bad influence. Whatever it is you should count your blessings because you have a lot of them. Even if you are different that's not a bad thing, strength, I would do almost anything to have that, if you knew what strain, physical and mental came with this not to mention being hated by your loved one's to the point of murder. What I mean is you should let this thing with your father go because you are lucky with what you have, focus on what you have not what you don't have."

Vida finished the conversation leaving Hercules with a lot to think about. Later that night Yvenna came up beside her, Yvenna was quite and graceful but Vida still heard her coming from the other end of the ship.

"Hey, I just thought you might be lonely."

Vida smiled a sweet yet heartbreaking smile, one that made Yvenna sadder than the shame she possessed from the cowardess she saw in herself, "Thank-you for your kindness but I am still lonely and I see a long space of time before that ever changes."

"Can I ask you something?

"The reason I couldn't help but say yes when Iolaus asked me to come was because I was most certain I'd seen him before."

Yvenna decided she had to get used to this girl knowing her every move, even though she was at the table when the story was told, neither did she hear her confessing to Hercules but Yvenna was sure Vida knew that she had run away when her people were enslaved.

Before Yvenna could ask further about Iolaus Vida said in a firm and obsitinate tone, "You are no coward Yvenna, I have seen cowards take many forms in my short life, I have seen cowards from this end of Greece to the other and I know cowards you are not one. If you hadn't hidden who would there be left to free them."

Yvenna couldn't argue with that in fact it was impossible to argue with this girl she knew everything. Little did Yvenna know that Vida knew her fate in this quest and it wasn't one that ended in _her_ freeing of her people, "Being afriad doesn't make you a coward it makes you human."

"How do you know Iolaus?" asked Yvenna desperate to extract herself from the seers gaze.

"I don't, I just saw him."

"When?"

"Many times before and I believe many times in the future." she paused, "when my father used to beat me I used to see a figure behind him, a little blond boy about my age always the same age as me," she sighed, "he was a beautiful child, it was hard to imagine him in the middle of something so horrible but I knew what it was, it was someone who was recieveing the same treatment from his father." Vida felt guilty she didn't believe she had the right to tell Yvenna this but her seer instincts took over and told her she must, someone has to know about the connection even if it is a pronounced dead woman, but she didn't say any of this to Yvenna.

"You mean Iolaus..."

"Yes."

"And you think your paths will cross in the future?"

"I know they will, he will be the saviour of my saviour."

"Who is your saviour?"

Vida gave her a smile, "I don't know I haven't seen him yet."

*************************

After the crew or most of them anyway, escaped the trap the goddess Discord set to get them to kill eachother a lot of the surviving members of the crew were injured or at the very least bruised and some were even incapasitated.

"Let me help," said Vida in her usual soft hypnotic tone to the ship's healer.

"What do you know about healing?" he said not in a nasty way but in a suspicious way, he was very cautious of this girl and her powers.

Vida smiled and knelt gracefully at the wounded cadet's side and pressed her hands onto his sword damaged chest and concentrated as the wound quite visably began healing, "A few things," whispered Vida in the healer's ear in a tone which sounded seductive but knowing what they knew of Vida it surely wasn't. About an hour later the ugly and possibly fatal wounded was completely healed and the cadet said he felt tierd so Vida bent close to his ear and exhaled the word, "Sleep." And immediately the cadet was fast asleep.

Vida stood up with feline grace and then elevating herself from the princess she was she looked like a goddess floting around the ship healing the wounded and even removing the slightest of bruises.

At night the wounded were up and alert as they had had a well induced sleep.

"So," said Jason, "you're a healer aswell."

"Comes with the job," she smiled.

"Well why didn't you tell us that before?" asked Hercules quite annoyed.

"I wasn't..." this time Vida was interupted.

"Right you weren't ment to, sometimes you're insticints are really stupid, I bet you knew we were going to end up on that island but you weren't ment to tell us that either were you?"

Vida was getting more and more upset by his angry words, she knew her seer instincts were a pain in the ass but she couldn't deny them anymore than some on board this ship could deny the instinct to fight for their life or the life of a loved one just like Jason was doing and finally Vida cracked and shouted, "OHH JUST GO TO SLEEP."

If there was any doubt to how powerful this girl was it vanished there and then as Hercules dropped into the abyss of sleep at the frustration filled command, "I'm sorry I'm sorry," said Vida immediately after Hercules fell, "It's just I couldn't listen to the thing I got ever time I get knowlage that's not ment to be shared. This isn't the first time I've had to pretend that I didn't see anything."

Iolaus walked over to the girl and put his arm around her and she in five seconds flat dropped into her own sleep.

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Not long later the crew landed on an island not far from where the Golden Fleece was ment to be and they recieved the most shocking of visitors. They were sitting on the sand having a miday meal when they spotted two figures on the beach carrying what seemed to be a small box. They spotted Vida and all at once Vida knew who they were, she considered running but they had something she needed to hear.

They ran towards her and fell at once to their knees she may have only been young and they may have only seen her a few times in their military careers but they knew their princess when they saw her, they couldn't help it, it was hard for anyone who didn't love her or even know her to not feel her presence.

"Princess Vida," said one in a voice that souded like it had been pulled from the deapths of dispare, "you're alive we all feared it wasn't true but here you are the beautiful grown woman you were ment to be and our Queen."

"You have the wrong girl, your princess died years ago when she was forced to leave you and now she can never go home."

"You highness what do you mean?.....no, no surely you're not saying you're not coming home."

"That is exactly what I'm saying, while I'm gone Aros will suffer but when I die it will prosper, you will finally have the God we've been searching for all these years."

The guard when he had said his words to the princess, he was obviously a disiplained man and really strong but when he heard his much loved princess say she wasn't returning with them and that they would have to suffer without her if they wanted to prosper, his dark green eyes brimmed with tears. His supirior managed to contain his upset and reached for his little mistress' hand only to have her pull back, "You needn't kneel, I'm not royalty anymore," then despite her seer instincts something entered her mind a lot later than things usually did, "what do you mean 'our queen'?"

This time tears did run down the younger officer's cheeks, the fact that his gifted mistress hadn't forseen this lead both him and his superior to speculation about whether or not she was ment to know but they heard her say in a no nonsense tone, a tone saying there would be consequences if she didn't get the truth, "Tell me soldiers what did you mean?" even as a young and vunerable girl they had heard that tone from and it frightened them to their very core, made them feel like they were being backed in a corner with no way out which is exactly why the people though she would make a wonderful prime minister or second in command to her illustrious brother.

"You majesty..."

"Vida will do thank-you."

The cadets were amazed at the skilled and unflappable power she had over these large and dangerous looking men, no doubt she would have been a great princess.

"King Rubio contacted your brother about a month ago telling him you were alive and had been freed from slavery and where you were. The King was so happy he gave into tears, no-one had seen him crack a smile since you left, he was adement that he wanted to see you and he should sail to you right away and after being directed to Cheiron's academy we were diercted here and here you are."

"No, no my brother can't find me he just can't, why did you even let him look for me, his search for me will be the death of him I saw it."

Whether it was denial or grief that was blinding this normally alseeing princess the soldiers were almost angry that she hadn't seen it before they came, not angry with her but just angry that had to be the one's to say 'The King is dead long live The Queen' but now it looked like that wasn't going to be the case either, "The ship crashed your Highness and it was destroyed, what remains of it is further down the beach..." he was stalling and he knew that would make things worse so he just said it, "mistress your brother didn't survive this."

There was utter silence from the princess until the younger officer who must have been about twenty five, without standing up moved infront of his supirior and took the princess' hand in his own and only then did she let go of the hope that this was a nightmare that was habitual to her because the touch of the devoted young man made her realise that she was real, this was real and she wept hysterically. The young man unable to embrace what he still considered his princess even though she, who was always right denyed it, pressed his lips repeatedly to her dealicate life giving hand and even at the loss of his King, a great man whom he had worshipped with his loyal soul, he felt the healing prosses begin already but there no hope of healing that quickly for Vida whose legs gave out beneath her and she started falling, Hercules who had seen this while the soldiers understandbly were looking at the ground in grief and reluctance to see such pain in their sweet, strong princess' eyes, ran to her and caught her in his strong arms Iolaus ran up to her too and placed his hand in the one that the distraught young soldier wasn't clutching and gave it as powerful and as comforting a squeeze as he could.

"These are some clothes we recovered from the wreck Vida." despite the fact that he wasn't suppose to call his princess that no matter what she said the supirior officer knew she needed and craved to here her name.

Vida reached inside the box and took out some clothing, gracefully as ever stood up while bringing the clothing to her nose, "Ohh my poor brother," she whispered through tears then without warning she threw the clothes down and ran toward the ocean screaming desperatly, "Oleo, Oleo," in some desperate atempt to reach him or kill herself or both. Hercules, Iolaus and the soldiers ran after her and someone caught her around the waist just as she reached the water. When she gave up fighting the arms and shouting for her brother she just sat down in the water but the arms around her didn't let go the person attached to them, whoever it was gripped her tight and sat down in the water with her and waited until she was cryed out. By the time that happened the tyde was out and it was night time. Vida stood and walked over to the fire that had been built and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the sand, in fact there was a good chance she fell asleep in mid air. The soldiers took turns staying awake as they were worried about Vida.

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When Vida woke up she wanted desperately to see her brother and asked if the body was saved. The soldiers said it was in the wreck that landed down the beach so not wanting to leave Vida alone or split up the party everyone went to find the wreck although Vida followed her feelings and she didn't only lead them to the wreck but she continued walking until she fell down next to the body of her most loved brother and embraced him to her breast from which an unbelieveable warmness radiated.

He was a very handsom man even in death he had the same mysterious beauty that his sister did, he may not have been a seer but he was definately a King. Jason offered kindly to give them a ride back to Aros taking their king's body with them as long as they remained on board while the rest of the party was obtaining the fleece, they were so grateful and so eager to get their King home they agreed imediately but there was a sadness in their agreement as they knew their princess wouldn't be accompanying them.

When King Oleo's body was safely aboard the Argos the beautiful seer, not a princess anymore, embraced the two soldiers who had let her see her brother for one last time. Hercules tried to reason with her saying her country needed it's queen but she said she knew her brother's looking for her would be the death of him and she knows disaster will take place and destroy her beautiful country and her beloved people but she also knows that after she dies her country and her people will prosper and finally have their God.

Vida started to set off, when Hercules tried agian to stop her she said, "I can't say it more plainly than this, you try and follow me I'll put you back to sleep and leave you like that this is what I need to do for my country."

And just like that she dissapeared into the woods. She smiled as she slowly fled the scene of her brother's body and her peoples inevitable misery and thought about Jason and Hercules and most of all Iolaus the saviour of her saviour. They would all get over the arrogence of youth and grow to be wonderful kind hearted leaders, something she could never be. Although she didn't believe it was the end, before she died she would meet them again and she knew that would be the beginning of her happiness.

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End file.
